VN-Index plunges, while securities stocks buck the trend.

Following a sharp decline at the start of trading on May 22nd, the VN-Index at one point lost more than 40 points before bargain-hunting demand helped the market narrow its losses. However, selling pressure remained dominant, while securities stocks unexpectedly became a rare bright spot.

Strong bargain-hunting buying emerged in the securities sector, helping many stocks reverse their downward trend and rise in price despite the VN-Index continuing its deep correction in the final trading session of the week.

The Vietnamese stock market continued to experience a volatile trading session on May 22nd, with selling pressure emerging from the start and quickly spreading across the market. The electronic board was dominated by red, especially in large-cap stocks, causing the VN-Index to lose more than 40 points at one point, falling below the 1,860 point mark.

Strong selling pressure, concentrated on many key stocks such as VIC, VHM, VRE, GEX, GEE, GAS, PLX, and the oil and gas sector, has made investors more cautious. Although bargain hunting emerged in the afternoon, significantly narrowing the market's losses, the VN-Index was still unable to regain positive territory.

At the close of trading, the VN-Index fell 19.76 points, or 1.04%, to 1,877.13 points. Across the HoSE exchange, 133 stocks rose and 177 fell. Trading volume reached over 854 million shares, equivalent to a transaction value of over 22,315 billion VND, a significant increase compared to the previous session. Overall for the week, the VN-Index decreased by 44.47 points, or 2.31%.

The highlight of the session was the performance of the Vingroup group of stocks. In the morning session, VIC had fallen by more than 4%, contributing to the sharp decline in the index. However, buying pressure in the afternoon helped the stock recover significantly, closing down only 1.01% at 216,500 VND/share. Similarly, VHM also significantly narrowed its decline from nearly 5% to 3.75%.

The recovery of VIC and VHM helped to somewhat curb the VN-Index's decline in the afternoon session. The trading volume of these two stocks alone reached nearly 1,000 billion VND in the afternoon, accounting for a large proportion of the VN30 basket's trading volume.

However, selling pressure remains present in many other sectors. The oil and gas sector weakened significantly, with GAS falling 2.75%, BSR losing 3.26%, and PLX declining 2.33%. Gelex group stocks also faced strong selling pressure, with GEX falling more than 6% and GEE dropping more than 4%.

Amidst significant market volatility, securities stocks unexpectedly became the focal point for investment. Most notably, VNDirect's VND stock surged by the maximum allowed 6.7%, closing at 17,450 VND per share.

VND's surge occurred at the beginning of the afternoon session as strong capital inflows occurred. Within the first 20 minutes of trading, the stock reached its upper limit and maintained a buy order at the ceiling price until the end of the session. Trading volume reached over 45 million shares, the highest level in approximately 7 months, with a transaction value exceeding 780 billion VND.

VNDirect's strong performance is being supported by a series of positive corporate news. According to plan, VNDirect will finalize the shareholder list on June 1st to pay a cash dividend for 2025 at a rate of 5%, equivalent to approximately 761 billion VND. Simultaneously, the company's leadership has also issued a message expressing their determination to accelerate their return to growth after a period of restructuring and addressing internal issues.

Speaking at the 2026 annual general meeting of shareholders, Ms. Pham Minh Huong stated that the company had to "slow down" over the past two years to address numerous difficulties related to system failures and fluctuations in the bond market. These statements somewhat raised investor expectations regarding the company's potential for recovery in the near future.

Not only VND, but a series of other securities stocks also traded positively, such as SSI increasing by 1.66%, SHS by 3.51%, FTS by 3.4%, CTS by 3.11%, VCI by 1.63%, MBS by 2.07%... The return of speculative capital to the securities sector is considered the most prominent factor of today's trading session.

Nevertheless, analysts believe that the market's recovery is not yet truly solid. Although market breadth improved in the afternoon session, the number of stocks experiencing significant declines remained high. As many as 94 stocks on the HoSE fell by more than 1%, indicating that selling pressure is still widespread.

On the HNX exchange, the situation was more positive, with the HNX-Index rising 1.19% to 267.51 points thanks to the breakthrough of the securities and real estate sectors. SHS, MBS, and CEO all saw strong gains, while THD continued to attract attention with a nearly 8% increase.

On the UPCoM market, the UPCoM-Index fell slightly by 0.29% to 125.65 points. Several steel stocks, such as POM and TVN, became bright spots, simultaneously hitting their upper limit with high trading volume.

The correction on May 22nd showed that cautious sentiment still prevails in the market after the previous period of rapid growth. Although bargain hunting helped the VN-Index significantly narrow its losses, capital flows have not yet spread strongly. In this context, the breakout of securities stocks is seen as a rare bright spot, helping to maintain market sentiment during the final trading session of the week.

Source: https://thoibaonganhang.vn/vn-index-lao-doc-co-phieu-chung-khoan-nguoc-dong-182436.html